Rosemary Brown Butter Loaf Cake
Ah yes, can you feel it? The beads of sweat dripping down your neck as you run your little errands in your cute little sweater, which you thought would be seasonally appropriate but is not because for some reason (gl*bal w*rming), it is upwards of 70 degrees in New York in November? No? I’m the only fool who doesn’t check the weather every morning? Okay.
Well despite cl*mate ch*nge doing its best to ruin fall vibes, here I am with yet another autumnal recipe.
This week, I present you with a Rosemary Brown Butter Loaf Cake, which utilizes one of my favorite little techniques as of late. While I love the layers of flavor that fresh herbs, teas, or dried flowers can bring to a dessert, I find that when included whole they can mess with the texture of a cake or cookie, getting stuck in your teeth or providing an unpleasant chew. So… if you still want all that goooooooood good flavor with none of the added textural flaws I recommend you… *drumroll please* INFUSE! YOUR! FATS!
Fat, whether it be oil or some sort of dairy, is a crucial component in most of my baking and a master at absorbing other flavors (shoutout to the half-used stick of butter in my refrigerator sopping up the scents of whatever the hell else is in there). Whenever I find that a bake craves the sweet, floral notes of lavender; or the grassy bitterness of earl gray tea; or in this case, the piney flavor of rosemary, I start melting down some butter or heating up some oil.
For this cake, I start by heating my butter until it begins to sputter, pushing it around with a rubber spatula. As it cooks, the milk solids on the bottom of the pan will begin to brown and give off a warm, nutty aroma. Once these are deeply golden, I pull it off the flame and pour it into a heat safe bowl containing my rosemary; let it steep for about a half hour or so and remove the sprigs. This infused brown butter gives the cake a toasty herb flavor perfect for a fall day.
Before baking, I top the batter with a few sprinkles of demerara sugar to provide a bit of crunch against the backdrop of the extremely moist cake. The sponge is deliciously dense and not too sweet, lending itself to be the perfect afternoon snack. I like mine warm out of the oven topped with a bit of freshly whipped cream, alongside a cup of (decaf) coffee.
Stay cool (jk…but not really… it’s gonna be 75° in New York this weekend…) and see you next week with perhaps another little snacking cake hehe…
xx,
Ian
Rosemary Brown Butter Loaf Cake
Yield: One 8.5×4.5in loaf
Ingredients:
- 3 sprigs (~9g) rosemary
- 12 tbsp (1.5 sticks/170g) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
- 1 2/3 cup (213g) all purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp (6g) baking powder
- 1 tsp (3g) Diamond Crystal kosher salt*
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar
- 2 large (108g) eggs
- 1 tsp (4g) vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup (153g) buttermilk
- 2 tbsp (32g) demerara sugar, for sprinkling
- Freshly whipped cream, for serving
Directions:
- Brown your butter: Place your sprigs of rosemary in a heatproof bowl. In a medium saucepan, add your cut butter and heat over medium. The butter will melt and then begin to sputter. Continue to cook the butter, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan with a rubber spatula, until the sputtering subsides and the milk solids on the bottom of the pan have browned, 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat, and pour the browned butter over the rosemary. Let steep for at least 30 minutes, before removing the rosemary sprigs. Let your butter resolidify by moving it into the fridge/freezer for 10-15 minutes.
- Preheat your oven and prep your pan: Preheat your oven to 350° and set a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease a 8.5×4.5in loaf pan with neutral oil before lining with parchment paper (include a bit of overhang on the long sides so you can easily lift the loaf out later).
- Combine your dry ingredients: Whisk together your flour, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl and set aside.
- Prepare your batter: In the bowl of a stand mixer combine your brown butter, granulated sugar, and light brown sugar. Beat on medium high until it is light and fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Scrape down the sides of your bowl, add in your eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium high until fully combined 2-3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of your bowl, set the mixer to low and slowly stream in your buttermilk. Once all the buttermilk has been added bring the mixer up to medium-high and beat until the mixture is homogenous and has no streaks of fat, 2-3 minutes. Add in your dry ingredients and pulse the mixer until everything is just combined with minimal lumps. Pour the batter into your prepared pan and sprinkle your demerera sugar evenly over the top.
- Bake: Bake on the oven’s middle rack until deeply golden and a cake tester or toothpick comes out clean, 50-55 minutes, rotating 180° halfway through the bake time. Let the loaf cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes, before lifting out using the parchment paper, and placing on a wire wrack to finish cooling.
- Serve: Slice and serve with freshly whipped cream. Store leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Notes
*If you’re using any other type or brand of salt (i.e. Morton, or sea salt), I suggest scaling back to 1/2 tsp.
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